


Things Aren't Always as They Seem

by littlepinkbow



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alcohol, Alternate Universe - College/University, M/M, POV Outsider, Party
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-21
Updated: 2015-02-21
Packaged: 2018-03-14 11:40:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,919
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3409223
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/littlepinkbow/pseuds/littlepinkbow
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After a breakup, Liam finds new roommates and before he knows it, he finds out way more than he wants to about them. </p>
<p>Or, the one where Liam is absolutely sure that Zayn is cheating until he's not.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Things Aren't Always as They Seem

**Author's Note:**

  * For [SMKoehl](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SMKoehl/gifts).



Liam threw his backpack over his shoulder, pulling his coat tighter around him and leaving his flat and all he could hear in his head was his mum’s words, ‘You guys shouldn’t move in together. You’re too young.’ And boy was she right. He knew that moving in with Sophia at the beginning of term could be a bad idea, but he was young and in love and nothing could convince him otherwise. It had been fine for the first few months, normal tiffs here and there but something had changed in late October. Halloween was a disaster and now it was mid-November and Sophia had told him that he needed to go. This was over and she didn’t want to live with him anymore. 

Ducking his head down as he headed out to his class he nearly silently cursed himself before mumbling to himself, “Right perfect now I’ve got to find a flat to live in in the middle of November.” Liam’s hands were twisted around his backpack straps and the worst part was, he knew Sophia was right. He did have to move out and with all the fighting they had been doing, he was nearly over their relationship. He just had to figure out where to find someone to live with and having spent almost all his time all term with Sophia, Liam was quite a bit shorter on friends than he usually would be. 

Shivering as he entered the sociology building, he made his way to the classroom and shrugged his backpack off, pushing his coat off and sitting down at his desk. Reaching up to run his fingers through his hair, Liam took his phone from his pocket and thought he would do a quick internet search to see if he could find someone to live with. 

“Hey mate, what’s going on?” Zayn asked, opting to leave his leather coat on as he sat down at the desk next to Liam. Zayn’s hair fell into his face slightly as he looked over at Liam and tapped his fingers gently on the desk. 

“Shit day, really. What about you?” Liam replied, hardly looking up from his phone and really, Zayn might actually be his closest friend this term. They only spoke in class and via text about class, and there were the two times that they met up to study, but other than that, Liam didn’t know anything at all about Zayn. 

“I’m all good. What’s going on?” Zayn asked curiously, leaning his left elbow on the table and resting his head in his hand to look at Liam. Liam looked a little frazzled, if he was honest, but he hadn’t spent a lot of time looking at Liam, so maybe he looked really frazzled and it just didn’t register for Zayn. 

“Girlfriend and I broke up. We were living together, so I’m a bit homeless until I find a place to stay. Is there a place on here to list if you don’t want to be murdered?” Liam asked, holding up his phone to Craiglist, where he was looking for a room that was for rent. 

Zayn let a soft laugh leave his lips, shaking his head and biting down on his bottom lip, “Don’t think so. But if you’d be up for it. I have an extra room.” He pointed out, shrugging a shoulder before continuing on to explain, “I had a roommate, but things changed a little and now I’ve got a spare room.” He left out the part about how he had started dating his roommate, figuring that if Liam moved in, he would figure that out in time. 

“Really?” Liam almost wanted to jump out of his desk and hug Zayn, but he refrained, “I don’t really have any furniture or anything, just a couple of bags of stuff, but even if it’s just for a few nights until I find something, I would really really appreciate it.” He said thankfully, hoping that his desperation wasn’t coming across to Zayn. 

“I meant like, you could stay? Like the rest of term or whatever. There’s a bed and desk in there, so you don’t need much except your stuff. I’ve got another roommate but he’s pretty cool.” Zayn shrugged, and if he gave a passing thought to just how cool Niall was last night that was for him and him alone. 

“You don’t know how much I would appreciate it. We can talk about rent and I’ll help with groceries or anything else I can, I promise.” Liam said with a nod and when the professor started her lecture, Liam paid attention with a lot less stress on his shoulders. 

When class was over, Zayn shoved his notebook back into his bag and glanced over at Liam, “If you want, I can help you go get your stuff and you can just bring it over now? That way you can meet Niall and know where we live and all of that.” He suggested, shrugging and looking over at Liam. 

“Yeah, sure. I’ll get pizza for everyone for dinner tonight or something. I really do appreciate this, Zayn.” Liam said with a nod, tipping his head to the side and fishing his phone from his pocket, “Sophia is in class too so it’ll be easier to get in and get out.” He said giving Zayn a shrug and a small laugh. 

“Pizza huh? Niall’s going to love you.” Zayn laughed and nodded before following Liam out of the room, and back to his flat. Actually, as he thought about it, he thought that Niall and Liam would get along very well and it would probably work out great. 

Tossing the bags into the boot of Liam’s car, he shut it and gave a glance at the flat, “I should have listened to my mum,” He said with a laugh as they got in the car and he followed Zayn’s directions to his house. 

The house that Zayn and NIall lived in was a quaint little single family home about ten minutes off campus. It was a three bedroom house and when they started living there, Zayn and Niall each had their own bedroom and they had turned the third bedroom into a game room. It wasn’t long after they had lived together that Niall migrated into Zayn’s room and left his bedroom completely empty. They didn’t need the the extra rent money from Liam, but the thought of made Zayn think maybe they could save it for a holiday or something. 

When they parked in front of the house, Zayn helped Liam with his bags and made his way to the door, pushing it open and kicking his shoes off just inside the door, “Nialler I’m home! Brought Liam with me!” He called out. 

Liam followed suit and kicked his shoes off in the same direction as Zayn, closing the door behind them and apparently Zayn must have found time to text Niall to let him know that he was going to be bringing someone home, which was only mildly comforting to think Niall wouldn’t be shocked and chuck Liam out on his bum right away. 

“You brought home a stray!” Niall said excitedly, his Irish accent thick as he came around the corner from the kitchen a chip half into his mouth and three more in his hand. “Hiya mate, I’m Niall!” He said loudly, holding his chip-free hand out to Liam. 

“Liam, yeah. Good to meet you. Thanks for this.” Liam said, reaching out to shake Niall’s hand and wow, he and Zayn truly were opposites. His skin, that he could see was tattoo free and his blonde hair was a serious contrast to Zayn’s tattoo covered arms and dark hair, but they gave each other a fond smile and really, Liam was just grateful not to be homeless. 

“I’ll show you your room and we will probably watch a footy game if you wanna hang out with us,” Zayn said, leading Liam down the hall to where the spare room was, empty as promised and he sat the bag down that he had carried. “I’d give you a tour, but it’s pretty small and self explanatory,” He said with a laugh, biting down on his bottom lip. 

“Thank you so much.” Liam said and it was probably getting old with him saying thank you constantly, but he really didn’t know how else to show his gratitude. 

“It’s really no big deal, the more the merrier, right?” Zayn said with a smile before nodding towards the living room, “Come join us if you want.” He said before turning and heading back out to the other room. 

“Made fish and chips,” Niall said eagerly, settling down onto the couch with his plate before speaking with a mouth full of chip, “Left you a plate in the kitchen, put one there for the stray too,” He said fondly, patting the spot next to him. 

“Thanks, Ni.” Zayn said fondly, retrieving his own plate and settling down on the couch next to Niall to watch the game he had on.

Liam came out a few minutes later and after learning from Niall that he had a plate of food as well he grabbed it and sat on the other side of Niall on the couch and this was a lot easier than he thought it was going to be. It seemed fine there with the boys and that set his head at more ease than he wanted to admit. 

They watched, ate and chatted over the game for just a little bit until Niall got up, brushing his jeans off and shaking his head, “Well I would love to stay here with you lot and listen to your terrible opinions of the football players, but I’ve got a biology class to get to.” He grabbed all three of their plates and took them to the kitchen. 

As he returned, Zayn looked up with a smile, “Liam said he would get us pizza tonight, so you better hurry home after your lab or I’ll eat all of yours.” 

“Wouldn’t miss it, babe.” Niall said with a grin before ducking his head down and pressing a soft kiss to Zayn’s lips. “Thanks, Liam!” Niall said before grabbing his coat and bag and heading out of the house. 

Liam blinked at the kiss and he really had no idea that they were together, he just thought that maybe they were friends, but as it was, he really had no issues with the two of them being gay. 

Zayn never hid his sexuality but he also never announced it, so he waited to see if Liam asked about it and when he didn’t, he went about his day like normal, studying for his exam the next day and occasionally checking in with Liam to make sure that he was okay. 

Pizza night ended up to be just as Zayn had expected, way too much food, too much beer and really, Liam was a good addition to their house. He was funny, witty and even Niall told him he did a good job picking a ‘stray’ to bring home. 

When Zayn woke up the next morning for class it was with a slight hangover and he leaned to the side to press a soft kiss to the top of Niall’s head before telling him he would be back later. A quick shower and a cup of tea later and Zayn actually felt human. 

It was Wednesday and Wednesday was Zayn’s favourite day of the week. It meant meeting Harry for coffee first thing, then two classes, then lunch with both Harry and Niall and when he got to spend time with boy of his boys he was happier than ever. Before the term started, they had tried to organise their classes so they would have the most possible time together, but as it turned out, they had hardly any time together so even the little things - even lunch, were more important than any of them cared to admit. 

Zayn left quietly, shutting the door and heading off to the coffee shop where he met Harry. As soon as he opened the door he saw Harry’s hair, tied back in a bun and grinned slightly at the sight. “Hi gorgeous.” He said softly, walking up behind Harry and wrapping his arms around his middle, pressing a kiss to the middle of his back. 

“Zee!” Harry said, turning around in Zayn’s arms and pressing a big kiss to his lips and Harry had definitely brought out a confidence in Zayn he hadn’t had before. It had taken months before Zayn would confidently kiss him in public. 

“Did Niall tell you we adopted a stray?” Zayn asked as they waited for their coffees, their hands tangling together. 

“Liam? Len? What’s his name?” Harry asked happily, his eyebrows raising, “You should bring him to the party with us on Friday. I am sure he would have fun.” He suggested, stepping up to get their drinks when his name was called. 

“Liam,” Zayn corrected with a soft laugh and he watched Harry with a smile while he gave his suggestion some though, “Yeah I might. He seems like he could use a few new mates anyway,” He said with a shrug and he took his coffee from Harry graciously, the warmth spreading over his body almost immediately. 

“Come on, you gotta get me to class or I am gonna be late,” Harry said with a pout and that was how their coffee dates worked. Harry bought them coffee and Zayn walked him to class and gave him a quick kiss right outside the door and really it was the best way to start his day. 

Zayn slid his fingers through Harry’s happily and tugged his hand as they headed out of the coffee shop. “I know next weekend we have the party, but I was just wondering if maybe the weekend after we could have a weekend just for the three of us. Like just quiet nights in and take out and stuff,” Zayn suggested and at the suggestion, his cheeks pinked slightly. 

“Yeah, baby, I think that would be really good. I’ll work ahead on my coursework so I won’t have anything to focus on but you and Niall.” Harry said with a grin, “And once I get settled in class I’ll put something on all of our calendars so none of us make other plans.” 

Zayn smiled at Harry’s statement and he loved the way the three of them worked. Harry was always taking care of them and keeping them organised. “That sounds great, baby, thank you.” He said, squeezing Harry’s hand firmly and walking across campus with him. 

Liam had woken up a little too early for class, nervous that he wouldn’t get there in time from his new place and that had landed him on campus 25 minutes early and wandering around aimlessly. He could stop by dining and get something to eat but Liam was too sleepy to be hungry. 

Tucking his hands in his pockets Liam looked up and stopped dead in his tracks. Across the yard from him, he saw, was that Zayn? Was he holding someone’s hand? Squinting his eyes, he stared for just a moment to confirm that yeah, that was Zayn holding someone’s hand who definitely wasn’t Niall. It was possible that he had completely misconstrued the situation but Niall and Zayn kissed on the mouth and now Zayn was holding hands with someone else; was Zayn really cheating on Niall right out in the open? Liam quickly looked away from the pair, hoping that Zayn wouldn’t see him and almost ran into a bush in his effort to completely avoid Zayn. Certainly tripping over a bush and landing on his arse wouldn’t draw any attention to him. Liam peeked to the side just slightly, just slightly to watch Zayn with the curly haired boy and he knew he’d look like an idiot if he brought it up to Zayn and he had a perfectly good explanation for it, so he decided on just minding his own business for the moment. 

Class was more than uneventful for Liam, a few of his mates had stopped him to ask him about his breakup, but for the most part, he avoided all the talking about it and got of the building and back home as quickly as he could. As soon as he walked through the door he saw Niall, doing something in the kitchen that maybe he would have described as cooking, but it didn’t look like cooking to Liam at all. “Hey, Niall. How are you?” He asked, poking his head into the kitchen after dropping his bag down. 

“Hey mate! What’s up? I am making sandwiches, do you want one?” Niall asked, holding up half of what looked like a sandwich that contained every ingredient the kitchen may have held.

Truth be told, it made Liam slightly nauseous. “Uh, no thanks.” He said with a smile, shrugging and leaning against the counter before speaking again, “Have you and Zayn been together for a while?” 

“Yeah, I guess.” Niall said thoughtfully, wiping what was probably too many condiments from his bottom lip. “It took us a while to figure it out you know, so it’s only been an official thing for about a year. Before that, I don’t really count. It was mostly yelling at each other and never figuring it out.” Niall explained through another bite of his sandwich, then holding it out to Liam as if he were planning on sharing a bite. 

Liam shook his head at the offer and nodded as he thought about it, stuck on the yelling and fighting bit and thinking he could be the reason to cause that again. If Niall found out about the curly haired boy. “I think I might go take a nap. The last few weeks have been awful and I haven’t realised how tired I am until lately,” He said with a smile, grabbing a bottle of water from the refrigerator and heading into his room. He shut the door and fell into bed, pulling his phone from his pocket and flicking through his contacts, trying to decide if there was any way he could figure out what was going on. Deciding that he really shouldn’t do anything, not at the moment, not until he knew more, Liam laid his phone on the night table and curled into himself, determined to take a nap. 

It was Saturday night and Liam had been holed up in his room trying to catch up on coursework when Zayn knocked more than loudly on his door. “Can I come in?” Zayn asked through the door, his face obviously pressed up against the door. 

“Yeah, sure.” Liam said, pushing his laptop off his lap and looking over towards the door as Zayn walked in. He hadn’t realised just how far he had fallen behind in his courses, but was hoping that he could get himself all caught up in a timely fashion. 

“Do you want to come out with us tonight? Our friend Lou is having a party and he always has these raging house parties. You need to get out of the house.” Zayn said with a nod, walking over to sit on the end of the bed and look over at LIam. 

“Are you sure I”m not intruding?” Liam asked and what he meant was ‘are you sure I’m not going to see you with some other guy who isn’t NIall tonight.’ 

“Not at all, there will be tons of people there and lots of people for you to meet and talk to. I’m telling you that you’ll have a really good time,” Zayn said with a nod, clapping his hands together and resting them between his knees as he looked at Liam. 

“Yeah, I’ll come.” Liam said with a shrug, because Zayn was right. Liam did need to make some friends. Some people who weren’t his ex girlfriend or weren’t his random mate from his sociology class who may or may not be cheating on his boyfriend with the questionable eating habits. 

“Cool. We are going to get a cab at about half ten just because it’s too cold to walk. Get ready and stop worrying about your coursework on Saturday.” Zayn said with a smirk before pushing himself up off the couch and walking out of Liam’s room, the door closing behind him. 

Liam couldn’t remember the last time he had been to a party, it had actually been too long ago for him to remember at all and the thought made him shudder slightly. Rather than sitting around and thinking about just how much of a hermit he had become, Liam got up and showered, getting himself dressed and grabbing his coat with just minutes to spare. 

“I am gonna get completely smashed.” Niall said, his voice a slight sing-song as he bounced from one foot to the other when they were waiting just outside their door. 

“Not really a surprise is it.” Zayn said with a laugh, slipping his hand under the back of NIall’s shirt, his fingers spreading widely over the small of Niall’s back. 

“You know what, mate. I think I will join you.” Liam said with a nod, because really, everything was too much for him. Maybe he wouldn’t be so worried about if Zayn was cheating, Niall’s feelings, and his stupid ex girlfriend that he just couldn’t get off of his mind. 

Zayn grinned at Liam’s words and clapped his back with his free hand, “That’s the spirit, you’re only in uni once. Better enjoy it!” 

Liam laughed softly and followed the boys into the cab, deciding that for one night, he was going to put everything behind him and just have a good time, like most other uni students. 

The party wasn’t a let down, there were people everywhere and for every person there seemed to be even more alcohol. Zayn had talked Liam into trying ‘Lou’s Magic Punch’ as he had called it, but there were three large bins sat in the middle of the kitchen floor with soup ladles hanging out the sides of them. Liam was quite literally getting pissed off whatever was in the bin. It might have tasted like rum or vodka, but there might have been a hint of tequila and maybe it was just a bin full of whatever the elusive Louis could find. 

Refilling for the fourth or fifth (or was it sixth?) time, Liam sipped off his drink and the burn was warm settling down his throat. At first it had been unwelcome, but now it felt warm, like home and the transition may have been because of the amount of whatever it was that he had consumed. 

“Liam! I found him!” Zayn said, his voice a whole set of decibels louder than it normally was, “This is Louis!” Zayn’s voice was uncharacteristically cheerful and Louis ducked into the kitchen and gave Liam a grin. 

“Thanks for coming,” Louis said with a nod towards Liam’s cup of punch, “Do you like it?” 

Liam smiled and shrugged down at the cup, biting down on his lip for a moment, “Won’t remember if I don’t, will I?” He asked finally, letting out a laugh and pressing his lips together. “Thanks for having me round, this party is great.” Liam added, slightly awkwardly and he let out a laugh. 

Just a moment later, someone ducked down to whisper into Louis’ ear and Louis let out a low, rumbling laugh, that sounded like it came from deep down in his stomach. “Z, you might wanna go get your carry ons, apparently they’re creating a scene.” He said when he stepped back from the person whispering to them. 

“I swear, fuck.” Zayn said, shaking his head and deciding to stop to refill his cup before heading out to the living room. 

Confusion was painted all over Liam’s face and he followed behind Zayn and nearly dropped his cup at the sight in front of him. The curly haired boy was sitting on the couch, his legs slightly parted, but that didn’t matter as much, seeing as he had a lap full of Niall. Niall was straddling his hips, their lips pressed together and his own hips rolling forward onto the curly haired boys hips. Liam was drunk. He was definitely drunk, but, Zayn’s boyfriend was cheating on him with the same boy that Zayn was cheating on him with. What? Liam thought and even rethinking it in his head it didn’t make any sense. That was too much, too much coincidence. 

“Hold this,” Zayn said, holding his cup over to Liam and Liam took it, still staring at the scene unfolding in front of him, and woah. This was more than unbelievable and Zayn didn’t even look mad. He almost looked fond, if Liam was being honest with himself. 

Niall’s shirt was half pushed up his back, Harry’s fingers stretched over his skin and Niall’s kisses had moved to Harry’s neck by the time Zayn reached between them and pushed them apart slightly. “Down boys,” Zayn said, warningly, looking from one to the other before tapping Niall’s shoulder. “Up, babe.” 

Niall looked at Zayn with what was an exaggerated pout but he listened and got up from Harry’s lap. “Harry c’mon,” Niall said, his pout continuing as he looked from one boy to the other. 

Harry. Sounds like a good name for the curly haired boy, Liam thought and everything was just too much. It just didn’t make sense. 

Harry got up from the couch, stretching his arms over his head and giving Zayn a pout that put Niall’s pout to shame. Liam was sure whatever he was pouting for, anyone in the room would give him and the thought brought a hiccuped laugh to his lips. “Zayn you never let us have any fun,” Harry said, crossing his arms over his chest as he spoke.

“Oh, I let the two of you have plenty of fun, but I prefer not to do it in public.” Zayn said with a roll of his eyes, his hands settling down by his sides as he looked from the one boy to the other. 

“I don’t mean to interrupt,” Liam said, stepping up and the punch from Zayn’s cup sloshed over the top and down Liam’s hand, a small growl leaving his lips at the feeling. “But, you know Zayn’s cheating on you with him?” Liam asked to Niall and that definitely wasn’t what he was expecting to say, but apparently the magic punch makes you magically an arsehole. 

“What?” Niall asked, tipping his head to the side and a laugh left his lips, “He’s not cheating on me with Harry?” Apparently Niall had been drinking from the same bin as Liam because he looked just as confused as Liam, staring back at him. 

“I’m Harry!” Harry said excitedly, holding his hand out to Liam, “Are you the new stray? What’s your name? Leeroy?” 

Wow. He, wow. Liam’s thoughts came slowly as he looked at Harry, who was far too excited for this drunk in the evening. “Liam.” He corrected, handing Zayn’s drink off to him and sliding his hand into Harry’s and giving it a gentle shake. 

“Wait, you thought I was cheating on Niall?” Zayn said tipping his head to the side in a mix of confusion and amusement, “What made you think that?” He asked, biting at his lip and watching Liam for a moment. 

“Saw you holding hands the other day,” Liam explained, motioning from Harry to Zayn and giving the three of them a sheepish shrug. 

Zayn laughed warmly, shaking his head and scrunching his nose up slightly, “No one’s cheating, we are all together. Like in a relationship.” He said with a smile, reaching forward to pinch at Harry’s side and then Niall’s right after. 

“A throuple!” Harry provided, with a grin, “I read about that name on the internet.” 

“I am absolutely sure you did,” Niall said with a fond roll of his eyes before he wiggled his way between Harry and Zayn. 

“Wait, like,” Liam paused, his head perking slightly as he watched them, “So like, you’re all together. Dating. Each other. Wow. I think I’ve got to get another drink, cheers!” Liam said, disbelief still lingering on his face as he turned to head back to the kitchen, because this was almost too much for him for the night. 

Zayn laughed and watched Liam and it definitely wasn’t the first time that they had had a similar reaction.

“That was great. Can we go home?” Niall questioned, pulling both boys in closer to him and leaning to kiss the corner of both of their mouths before wiggling his hips just slightly between them. 

“Yeah, think we should go to Harry’s though, just so we don’t do his head completely in,” Zayn said with a laugh, nodding towards the kitchen and Liam before looking back to his boys. 

“Sounds like a good idea to me.” Harry said, slipping his hand into Niall’s as Niall slipped his hand into Zayn’s and they made their way outside.   
If it took Liam three more cups of punch and an hour long drunken conversation with Louis to understand what was really going on between the three boys, it really wasn’t his fault. It wasn’t his fault at all.


End file.
